


Acquisitions

by spacebubble



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: (very mild though), Coda, Episode: s05e09 The Ascent, First Kiss, Fluff and Angst, Gift Giving, Jealousy, M/M, Odo POV, Recovery, Sleep Deprivation, Solid!Odo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-21
Updated: 2016-12-21
Packaged: 2018-09-10 20:14:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,808
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8937565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacebubble/pseuds/spacebubble
Summary: “We're not dying. Here, here. You can have the rest of my rations.”Set after The Ascent. Quark’s taking longer than expected to recover from the mountain, and Odo tries to distract himself from his guilt about it.





	

****00.

Odo frowned. “What do you mean, I’m being discharged before Quark? What’s wrong with him?”

“He’ll be all right, Constable. Quark’s merely suffering from extreme exhaustion.” Bashir’s tone was gentle and measured. Almost too measured. It only served to heighten Odo’s concern - he suspected that the good doctor was trying to shield him from learning the true severity of Quark’s injuries. It was what he would have done if he were a physician, working with fragile solid bodies day in and day out.

“Something about his Ferengi physiology is taking longer than expected to recover from your recent adventure on the Class-L planet,” Bashir continued. “The only cure is rest, but he’ll be required to sleep at almost twice his normal rate. That’ll allow his body sufficient time to fully recover from all his microtraumas.”

 _Dumb name, they feel like ~major~ traumas to me,_ Odo imagined Quark saying. He glanced over to the bed where Quark slept, buried in blankets as if determined to build a shelter out of them. The infirmary seemed unnaturally silent without Quark’s annoying voice prattling on every few minutes.

“But why can’t he rest in his own quarters?” Odo folded his arms, uncomfortably aware that his solid body felt tense and stiff. “Why does he have to remain in the infirmary?”

“Quark needs to be bedridden for the week. Monitored sedations are the only way to ensure he will get the proper amount of sleep.” Bashir tutted as he reviewed Quark’s medical history on his padd. “He’s habitually sleep-deprived on a normal day, unfortunately.”

“I see.” Odo hadn’t realized that before.

“You can visit him at any time, Odo,” Bashir said.

Odo kept watching Quark sleep. It was truly remarkable that such a frail little reprobate had saved both their lives. “When is he due to wake up again?”

“In approximately 3 hours.”

“Very well. I’ll return then.” Odo stood up and gave Bashir a curt nod. “Thank you for your time, Doctor.”

Bashir smiled warmly. “Odo, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you when he wakes up.”

“Huh! Don’t count on it,” Odo grumbled.

He took one last look at Quark’s sleeping form before exiting the infirmary.

 

* * *

01.

Quark woke up to flowers.

He looked down and saw bouquet after bouquet of all manner of blossoms resting on top of him. Hundreds of flowers, ranging from pale to vibrant, delicate and impressive. The bed could barely contain them all. It was an intimidating amount, yet somehow the scents were subtle, mingling into a sweet, light perfume that blanketed him as he awoke.  

Odo stood off to the side, near Quark’s bed, but not quite next to it. He waited until he was sure Quark had fully awoken before he stepped closer. Much to his consternation, Quark seemed bewildered by the gift.

“I’ve been told that’s what you get for invalids,” Odo said gruffly, by way of explanation.

“Odo?” Quark twisted his head over to look at him, and Odo relaxed minutely. He supposed he had been apprehensive about Quark’s reaction, that Quark might launch into a mocking criticism or other judgment. It was a relief that Quark merely seemed curious.

“Garak helped me select them. Apparently they all mean something in Cardassian symbolism, but I couldn’t keep track of all the counter-meanings to the initial meanings. This solid brain seems to have weaker faculties than I’m accustomed to.”

“You bought me flowers?” Quark propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look. “Why’d you get so many?”

“Some of them are supposed to have soothing properties.” Odo shifted his weight from one foot to the other, simultaneously feeling as if he had done too much, yet not enough. “Garak informed me that certain Cardassian flowers are prized in the Obsidian Order for aiding in swifter recoveries.”

“Spy flowers,” Quark said in a hushed whisper.

“I highly doubt that is the correct term,” Odo said, half-hiding a smile. Something about Quark’s fascination compelled him to explain himself further. “I wanted to obtain more for you, but those were all I could carry on my own.”

Quark looked confused. “These are plenty. Why more?”

“To help you recover more quickly,” said Odo. He thought it would be obvious.

“So... that’s why you got me hundreds of them?” Quark still looked confused.

“Was that wrong?” Doubt crept into Odo’s voice. He wished he had asked Garak about the appropriate amount of flowers to bring to an invalid.

“No, they’re fine. Amazing, even.” Quark hunched over to examine one of the bouquets. “I think they’re supposed to go in a vase, though.”

Odo harrumphed. “Garak never told me that.”

“Well, thanks, anyway.” Quark lifted up the bouquet for a sniff. “Lots of smells going on here. They’re not bad. ”

Odo grunted neutrally. “I asked Garak for his consultation precisely because Cardassians have such a strong sense of smell. Didn’t want to overwhelm the infirmary with perfume.”

“That was thoughtful. Natima would’ve loved these,” Quark said, keeping the flowers to his face, smiling absently. He looked pleasant.

“I suppose.” Odo folded his arms more tightly across his chest to distract himself from the strangeness of finding anything about Quark _pleasant_. He wondered if it was a side effect from their exertions on the mountain.

“Here.” Quark held up the bouquet so Odo could sniff the flowers as well.

They did smell nice. He hadn’t noticed before.

Odo cleared his throat and stood up straight again, away from the bouquet. He half-expected some horrid change to infect him. A ludicrous alien pollen, perhaps, or a deadly paralysis.

Nothing terrible happened. Quark just kept looking up at him, smiling, surrounded by flowers.

“Well, I’d better be going,” Odo said abruptly.

“What?” Quark said in a small voice. He always sounded smaller when he sincerely felt hurt, and Odo tried to ignore the guilt gnawing at him as he recalled Quark sitting helpless and half-deaf on that forsaken mountain.

“I have some errands to run,” Odo felt compelled to explain. He wished he knew how to make his voice sound soothing, how to manipulate his feeble solid vocal cords appropriately. Garak would be so much better at consoling Quark. He would know the words to make everything right. “I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Oh. Okay.” Quark still had that small voice again, looking abandoned already.

Odo broke off eye contact and looked at the flowers. “You need vases for these. I’ll procure them.” He started gathering the bouquets back in his arms, slightly regretting the sheer quantity of them all now that he was trying to juggle his feelings as well as the flowers at the same time. How did he carry all of these before?

The image of his pathetic balancing act must have looked ludicrous, because Quark was chuckling. “You only really need one to figure out if it’ll fit into a vase,” Quark noted.

Of course. He should have realized. Flustered, Odo picked one bouquet out of the bunch and dropped the rest back on Quark’s bed. “Right. Well. See you later.”

“Later, Odo.” Quark smiled at him, not a leer in sight.

In spite of himself, Odo could feel the corners of his mouth twitch upwards as he walked away.

 

* * *

02.

Quark’s face lit up when he saw Odo enter the infirmary. “Odo! You didn’t bring more flowers with you, did you?”

“No, but Garak said I could make them into a tea. So. Here.” He held a thermal canister out to Quark, the matte metal gleaming. “Besides, Dr. Bashir said the infirmary couldn’t hold any more flowers.”

“Tea? What for?” Quark took the canister but kept his eyes on Odo’s face. Odo blinked and looked back at the canister.

“To comfort you while you sleep.” Odo coughed. “Dr. Bashir said you were having nightmares.”

“Probably inevitable when you’re sleeping 16 hours a day.” Quark turned the canister over and over in his hands, examining it. “Thanks.”

“Thank Garak. He made it, not me.”

“Well, thanks anyway. I can’t believe you got Garak to make me spy tea.”

Odo shifted from foot to foot again. Quark’s gratitude unnerved him. He didn’t deserve it. If Quark had perished on the mountain, all the tea in the quadrant wouldn’t have been enough...

He waited for Quark to open the canister and take a drink, to tell him it was okay.

“I can’t drink this without Dr. Bashir’s approval,” Quark explained, tilting his head at Odo’s watchful gaze.

“Oh.”

“He’ll be back in a few hours though. It shouldn’t take long. This is a nice canister, by the way. From Bolia?”

Odo grunted. “Vacuum-insulated and retains heat for 26 hours.”

Quark set the canister on the table next to the biobed. “Would’ve been nice to have that with us, huh?”

“Only if it were explosion-resistant,” Odo said with a slight smile. “Well, I’d better be going.”

“Odo, hey, don’t go.” Quark looked hopeful. “Keep me company? Please?”

“I’m sure you’ll be getting other visitors by the dozens.”

“Hmmmmmmm,” Quark hummed, squinting at the ceiling and pretending to think about it. “Not really. Most people are busy or asleep when I wake up.”

It hadn’t occurred to Odo, who had moved his shifts around to match Quark’s waking schedule. He wasn’t about to tell that to Quark, though, and grunted to cover up his embarrassment. “Oh. Well. If you insist.”

“Great!” Quark sat up straighter in the biobed. “So tell me what I’ve missed while I’ve been asleep.”

They chatted away the hours until Dr. Bashir returned.

 

* * *

03.

“Odo, you don’t have to keep bringing me things,” Quark said on the third day. But he still craned his head around to see what Odo was carrying behind his back. “That being said… what’d you get me?”

Odo didn’t bother to hide a slight veneer of smugness as he slowly brought his arm back out in front of him. “It’s a first edition of -” and Odo paused to roll his eyes - “Romulan Love Slave.”

Quark gasped embarrassingly loudly. “ _Romulan Love Slave?_ ” he shrieked, and Odo winced.

“Quark, the entire station doesn’t need to know.”

“They most certainly _do_!” Quark scooted forward in bed, arms outstretched. “May I?”

“It’s your present, you don’t have to ask.” Odo handed him the padd. Quark cradled it as if it were made of gold-pressed latinum - heavy on the latinum.

“How did you _get_ this?” said Quark, amazed.

“Jadzia knew someone who knew someone who happened to be acquainted with someone who owed someone else a favor. I’m not entirely clear on the chain of custodianship, but Jadzia assured me it was lawfully acquired throughout each exchange.”

“Thank you,” Quark breathed out, and Odo fidgeted.

“Please don’t tell people I obtained this for you,” he added.

“But Odo! I’d be honored.”

“It was mostly Jadzia’s doing, so she should be getting the credit. I’m merely the courier.”

“That’s nice,” said Quark absently, still gazing at the padd.

Odo watched Quark hold the padd in silence for a beat, then coughed. “Aren’t you going to start reading it?”

Quark looked up at him wryly. “Odo, I can’t read this here.”

“You can’t?” said Odo in dismay. But he and Jadzia had worked so hard to obtain it...

“It’s incredibly thoughtful but uh. This is stronger literature than your… Bajoran romance novels.” Quark patted the padd affectionately and set it aside. “It’ll have to wait until I’m back at my quarters. Right?” He bit his lip and let the corner of his mouth slide upwards into a lazy grin. “Unless… you _wanted_ to watch me read it…?”

Odo got what Quark was getting at. His face felt unconscionably warm.

Quark’s grin grew wider. “Hey, that’s new.”

“What is?”

“You’re blushing!” Quark crowed. “I didn’t know you could!”

“It’s this solid body,” Odo grumbled, hastily looking away from Quark’s delighted face. “It’s probably overreacting to the temperature controls. The infirmary’s too warm.”

“Yeah. Uh huh. That’s totally it.” Quark wiggled in glee. “This is amazing.”

Odo regarded him for a moment, then snatched the padd out of his hands. “Since you can’t read this now, I’ll just drop the book off in your quarters.”

“What?” Quark held out his hands for the padd and Odo’s eyes traveled down to Quark’s wrists, slightly upturned, fragile and bare. “But why?”

Odo glanced back up at Quark’s face. He snorted. “I’m not about to leave a copy of _Romulan Love Slave_ by your bed for the entire infirmary to see. Saving you the embarrassment, frankly.”

Quark arched a browridge at him. “Why Odo, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you just wanted to read it for yourself.”

Odo smirked. “What makes you think I haven’t already done so?”

He couldn’t stop smiling as he walked away, knowing Quark was stunned speechless behind him.

 

* * *

04.

The next day, Odo saw Quark reading a padd. He hesitated before walking forward. Someone else had given him something?

“Odo!” Quark set the padd aside. Much to Odo’s consternation, he saw at least half a dozen other padds on the table next to Quark’s biobed. “What’d you bring me today?”

“Nothing important.” Odo nodded at the table, somewhat stiffly. “You have plenty of other reading material, I see.”

Quark waved them away. “Eh, some books from Jadzia, but I’ve read them already.”

Very minutely, Odo relaxed. “All of them?”

“Yeah. Well, some I skimmed. She’s got a pretty good idea of what I like to read, but the Klingon epics she’s been recommending are a little too gory for my taste. It’s a bit much for a recuperating invalid, honestly.”

“Klingon epics?” Odo recalled the ex-wife incident, and folded his arms, forgetting about the padd he was clutching in one of his hands. “You’re not trying to court Grilka still, are you?”

“Huh? Nah, that got too complicated. She’s still a glorious woman, but…” Quark trailed off, looking somewhat wistful. “Logistics, etcetera. The long-term gains weren’t feasible.”

“Oh. Well.” Odo drummed his fingertips on the padd in his hand. “Sorry to hear that.”

Quark shrugged. “Whatever. We’re still friends. I tried telling Jadzia I was fine with taking a break from Klingon culture for a while, but she refused to take the padds back. And how could I resist that lovely face... Anyway, what’s that?”

“Hmm?” Odo remembered the padd he was holding. “Oh, this.” He tossed it to Quark, who looked at it with curiosity. “They’re your receipts from the past few days.”

“Thanks, but you shouldn’t have.” Quark held the padd back out to him. “Broik already gave me a copy.”

Odo permitted himself a small smirk. “The _real_ receipts, Quark. Before any of the waiters’… accounting.”

Realization dawned on Quark’s face as he muttered a Ferengi swear under his breath that Odo’s universal translator didn’t catch. “Of course! Why didn’t I reconcile the receipts? Those sedatives Dr. Bashir’s been giving me must’ve been stronger than I thought.” He held the padd up to his face and scrutinized the figures in front of him. “How’d you get these, anyway?”

“I asked Rom to double-check the totals,” said Odo, distracted by how he had forgotten Dr. Bashir’s explanation of the monitored sedations. His solid brain had truly begun to disappoint him lately. “Have you been feeling any other side effects from the sedatives?”

“Why, you worried about me or something?” Quark grinned, then stopped when he saw Odo continue to frown. “Hey, Odo. I’m fine. Look, I just noticed a discrepancy in column five of the tally that Broik gave me yesterday. Mind’s still as sharp as ever.”

“But…” Odo tightened his arms across his chest, not sure how to put the worry into words. He kept thinking about Quark struggling up the mountain alone, blanket providing little to no buffer from the jagged rocks and blistering winds. He knew he didn’t have any reason to, but the images kept springing to mind unbidden as he looked at Quark and his nest of blankets in the biobed.

“Want to tell me what’s on your mind?” Quark said, adopting a familiar tone that Odo had heard time and time again in the bar, whenever a customer seemed particularly distraught.

“I’m not one of your hapless patrons, Quark.” Odo felt a rush of - he didn’t know what, but he didn’t like the feeling. “You don’t have to put on the sympathetic listening act with me.”

“It’s not an act,” said Quark, sounding insulted. “But fine, if you don’t want to talk -”

“I don’t,” Odo snapped. His breathing grew quicker and he cursed himself for not being able to control it. His pulse raced and his uniform felt stifling. The infirmary was too warm again.

“Yeesh. Okay,” Quark said, clearly hurt. “I won’t talk to you, even though _you’re_ the one who visited _me_ , I might add.”

Odo’s shoulders sagged. Normally he wouldn’t care, but he hadn’t meant to hurt Quark.

“I’m sorry,” Odo blurted out suddenly. He walked over to the bed, knelt down, and grabbed Quark’s hand.

“Odo?” Quark stared at their clasped hands, then back up at Odo’s face. “Hey. What’s wrong? Should _I_ be worried about _you_?”

“I’m sorry, Quark.” It was somehow incredibly important for Odo to convey this to Quark. He gripped Quark’s hand even more tightly.

“Odo, you’re scaring me,” Quark laughed nervously. “Um, it’s okay. Sure, you were a little rude earlier, but I’m used to it.”

“No, it’s not… it’s more than that,” Odo said. He held onto Quark’s hand like it was a lifeline and he didn’t even remember why he began holding it in the first place, but it felt right, and he continued to hold onto it.

The monitors around them started beeping insistently.

“What’s that?” Odo said, alarmed.

“My blood pressure’s going up,” Quark said not unkindly. “You’re probably cutting off my circulation.”

Odo stared at him for a beat, terrified that he had done something to impair Quark’s recovery. “Quark?”

“I’m joking!” Quark squeezed his hand back. “But uh, and I’m not saying this to be patronizing or anything, if you want to talk… I’m all ears.”

“Quaaaark,” Odo groaned. “Honestly, maybe the sedatives really are getting to you.”

He debated whether to say what was on his mind, but it was hard to put his feelings to words, and the monitors kept beeping and breaking up his concentration.

Odo stood up and reluctantly let go of Quark’s hand.

The monitors stopped beeping.

“You’re leaving so soon?” Quark let his hand flop down back onto the bed. “Really, Odo, you can talk to me.”

“I’ll be back tomorrow.” Odo tugged at his uniform front. It had bunched up his chest from when he had crouched down by Quark’s bed earlier. He wasn’t used to having to readjust his clothes.

He focused on smoothing out his uniform as he walked out of the infirmary, so he wouldn’t have to look at Quark’s confused face.

 

* * *

05.

Odo unceremoniously dropped the fluffy blanket on top of Quark.

“Hi to you too,” Quark said, voice muffled by the blanket. He flailed slightly as he pulled the blanket off his head, then held it to his face. “Soft. What’s it made of? Did you skin like a hundred tribbles for this?”

Odo grimaced at the image. He still wished Sisko had let him keep the tribbles. “It’s synthetic, Quark.”

“Hmmmm. Yeah, I guess I’d rather not have a skinned tribble blanket.” Quark kept pressing the blanket to his face. “This is nice. Thanks.”

Odo grunted. He had been seized by a strange compulsion to surround Quark with harmless soft things, and researching blankets for sufficient coziness had been a useful distraction. But now he had given the blanket and he didn’t have that distraction anymore. Unless, perhaps, he got Quark another blanket…

“You really don’t have to keep getting me things.” Quark eyed Odo thoughtfully. “Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate the gifts. A lot. But you don’t owe me anything.”

Odo’s face felt warm again. “But… you saved my life.”

“Incidental to saving my own, believe me.” Quark kept the blanket pressed to his face. “You don’t owe me for that.”

Odo blinked. Something else felt warm, in his chest. His eyes felt wet. He blinked again and the moisture clung to his eyelashes.

“Odo, say something.” Quark scooted forward on the bed, looking concerned. “Hey, don’t cry.”

“I’m crying?” Odo held a finger up to his eyes and blinked his eyelashes against the fingertip. He watched his fingertip glisten.

“C’mere.” Quark held up a corner of the blanket, and Odo walked forward so Quark could reach up and gently bat away at the corners of his eyes. “There you go,” Quark said softly. “You’re okay.”

“I’m okay,” Odo repeated, and it suddenly felt true.

They were close enough for Odo to see every line on Quark’s face. How Quark’s cheeks, still sharp from their days of starvation, were slightly beginning to round out again. How the dark circles around Quark’s eyes seemed to have diminished with the extra sleep he had been getting. The wrinkles on Quark’s nose.

Odo thought of their long history. The first time they met. Their subsequent years of bickering. His memories fading as Quark yelled at him to hold on. The empty sky and its useless sun as he lay there freezing on the rocks, his body shutting down. Thinking Quark was dead and resigning himself to death as well. Making sure to record instructions for how to manage Quark’s remains, just in case.

He felt tired all of a sudden.

Odo rested his forehead against Quark’s for a moment and closed his eyes. Their noses touched and he could hear Quark’s breath hitch. Odo gently brushed their noses together, then leaned away with a sniff.

“Thank you,” he said.

Quark gazed at him for a long moment. “No need to thank me. Seriously, Odo.”

Odo nodded.

“I’m keeping the blanket, though.” And Quark grinned, showing all of his pointy teeth. “This is pretty cozy.”

“Hmm.” Odo smiled. He was glad. He’d have to remember to replicate one for himself.

“This would’ve been good to have with us, huh?” Quark aired out the blanket and laughed when he saw the size of it spill over the biobed and onto the floor. “You could fit two people under here easily.”

“Mm-hmm.” Odo stifled a yawn.

The unusual sound made Quark look up. “Odo? When was the last time you slept?”

“Don’t know.” Odo braced himself against Quark’s bed, fingers digging into the blanket. “Mmm.” It really was soft. His research had been excellent.

Quark shook his arm. “You can’t remember the last time you slept?”

“Didn’t want to sleep.” Odo glanced down. “Two people, you said?”

“Yeah.”

“Then move over.” Odo nudged Quark to the side of the biobed and lifted the blanket up. “I’m getting in.”

Quark’s eyes widened as Odo started climbing under the covers with him. “I don’t think there’s enough room for two on the bed, Odo. Barely, at least.”

But Odo was already half-asleep, his chest pressed against Quark’s side, which felt right. When Quark didn’t shove him out of the biobed, he tucked his chin onto Quark’s shoulder and mumbled, “I’ll turn into… a Rafalian mouse…”

“You can’t,” Quark sighed. “But I guess if the bed hasn’t collapsed yet, it can support the both of us.”

“Mmm.”

“Odo?”

“Wake me up when Dr. Bashir gets back,” Odo murmured. He tightened his arms around Quark, curling his limbs around Quark’s limbs, and felt Quark relax against him. He’d shield Quark with his own body if he had to. “I’ll be napping.”

“Oh, I’ll be awake,” Quark said softly.

He should’ve done this long ago, Odo mused sleepily. Obviously this was the best way to closely monitor a notorious criminal, even if Quark was unwanted by the Orion Syndicate...

 

* * *

06.

Odo woke up in a biobed of his own.

He sat up, disoriented, and looked around the infirmary. “Quark?”

“Oh good, you’re awake!” said Bashir, who had been sitting in a nearby chair.

“Dr. Bashir?” Odo shook his head, feeling sluggish and slow. The last thing he remembered was getting under the blanket with... “Where’s Quark?”

“He’s fine, Odo. Quark’s asleep. As you should’ve been, much earlier than today.”

“I don’t understand.” Odo looked over at Quark’s biobed, the fluffy blanket neatly bunched over Quark’s body. “How did I get here?”

Bashir looked puzzled. “You fell asleep in the biobed. Quark explained it to me when I came to give him his sedative.” He adopted a sterner tone. “You shouldn’t be pulling all-nighters so soon, Odo.”

“Right. I’ll remember that.” Odo contemplated Quark’s sleeping form as the doctor went on to discuss the restorative properties of sleep, etc.

If Quark had the strength to carry both him and the transmitter up the mountain... perhaps Quark had somehow managed to carry him into another biobed while he was asleep.

“I recommend you stay in the infirmary overnight, just in case,” Bashir concluded.

“That’s fine,” said Odo absently, still looking at Quark’s sleeping form. “You won’t have to sedate me.”

Bashir smiled. “I am positively relieved to hear that, Constable.”

 

* * *

07.

Odo hovered by Quark’s bed. “I thought you’d be fine by now.”

“Yeah, more or less,” Quark said. “Dr. Bashir says I need a little physical therapy to get my legs back up to speed.” He rolled his eyes at himself and grinned a sheepish grin. “Seems like I overexerted myself getting out of bed ahead of schedule recently.”

Odo grunted. “I suppose that makes sense.” He permitted himself a small, fond smile.

They looked at each other in silence.

Maybe now was the time, Odo thought. He could tell Quark how sorry he was that he had failed in his duty, how much he regretted the reversal in their long-standing roles. How much he wished he could have protected Quark on the mountain, or at any other time Quark was in mortal danger. Quark got himself in mortal danger too often. He would have to up his surveillance, perhaps investigate Quark more frequently - after he had finished his recovery, of course...

“Odo?” Quark’s voice broke through his reverie.

“Yes, Quark?”

“I’m still feeling the side effects of all those sedatives, okay?”

“Okay…” Odo said suspiciously.

“And I lied earlier. About you not owing me anything.”

“Oh,” said Odo. He supposed this was to be expected, after Quark had rescued him yet again.

“So I thought of something else you can give me.” Quark beckoned Odo to come closer, until Odo was standing right by the biobed. “And, again, remember that I am but a poor invalid suffering from the side effects of my treatment, and I can’t be held accountable for what I’m about to do.”

Before Odo could ask, Quark reached up and kissed him.

Surprised - but strangely not displeased, a feeling he would have to analyze at some point later, obviously - Odo leaned in and grabbed the back of Quark’s neck, growling almost animalistically into Quark’s throat. Some kind of primal urge overtook him and Quark whimpered a little as Odo took control, pressing his lips against Quark’s in a hard kiss, teeth slightly parted, just enough to shove his tongue into Quark’s pliant, hot mouth.

It only seemed natural.

He grasped Quark’s wrist, delicately encircling his fingers around it, thumb rubbing against Quark’s palm as he pressed Quark backwards against the biobed. Odo accidentally brushed against one of Quark’s ears in the process, causing Quark to cry out into his mouth, the noise muffled by their kiss.  

The monitors started beeping wildly and they broke apart, gasping, right before Bashir rushed into their section of the infirmary.

“What were you _doing_ , Odo?” Bashir chastised, scanning the monitors. “Riling Quark up again? He needs rest!”

“Side effect,” Odo muttered in a daze, unconsciously licking his lips. “Because of Ferengi… something…”

“Really strange,” Quark said, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. “Must be some kind of weird reaction to the sedatives.”

Bashir eyed both of them sternly. “Well, see to it that you don’t do so again. At least not until Quark is discharged from the infirmary.”

They both nodded.

Bashir left, needing to see to a medical request on the Promenade.

“I suppose I should leave as well,” Odo said after a while. “Can’t afford to overexert you.”

“Yeah,” said Quark in agreement. “For now, at least.”

“For now,” Odo repeated. He looked thoughtfully at Quark’s kiss-bruised lips, which Bashir seemed to have overlooked earlier. He supposed that made sense - it was the monitors that had demanded Bashir’s attention, not Quark’s mouth. Or Quark’s wrists.

“So I’ll see you later?” Quark asked hopefully. “You know, after I make my full recovery.”

“Of course,” Odo replied. He smiled, then leaned in to give Quark a quick, soft kiss. “Count on it.”  


**Author's Note:**

> hmm where did all these feelings come from? how suspicious
> 
> also i felt bad for making ch 2 of my more epic quodo fic mostly about dukat being gross, so here is some dukat-free fluff, like the fic version of putting a ferengi episode after something way more serious


End file.
